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Making "No" the right answer

Posted on 9 Sep, 2013

Have you ever noticed how easy it is for people to say No in a shopping situation? It's almost automatic! Of course it is just natural shopping behaviour that comes from their fears. They fear meeting an un-professional or pushy salesperson, fear making the wrong decision, and fear paying too much.

It's like they arrive at the dealership with their quiver filed with “Nos” just ready for the questions they expect to hear. If you ask those questions then they will give you a predictable response - a NO.

Questions like these almost beg a no:
Can I help you? – No just looking.
Is there something I can help you find? No.
Would you like to take it for a drive? No.
Do you want to buy it? No.

It is so easy for people to say No to these questions because:
All of these questions are closed ended.
Customers in any sales situation are conditioned to say no.
It is psychologically easier for people to say no than yes.
Since it is so easy for people to say no, we should ask more questions that can't be answered yes/no or where "No" is the right answer.

"No" can be the right answer when you ask the customer if they want to continue doing an activity that is obviously detrimental to them – like continuing to drive an older vehicle with its higher maintenance costs. For example: "Did you want to keep paying those high repair bills?"

Here are some others where "no" is the answer you want:
Would you object to me saving you some time?
Would you mind if I made your vehicle shopping a bit easier?
Would you mind if I fixed that for you?
Is there any further information you need before we go ahead?
Is there anything more you need to know about the company, the product, or me?
Is there anything stopping us from going forward with this today?
Is there any reason we shouldn't get the paperwork going?
You wouldn't mind if I had a way to save you some money?